Reply To: Howard Bantam/Villiers 25C

[andyfrost]

Jim , I fear you may be looking at problems that may well not exist. My first action on any Villiers twostroke , is a complete stripdown , firstly, and in my opinion , get the ignition unit tested on a proper purpose built tester , if the coil shows ANY sign of weakness , renew it , the condenser will either be OK or Duff….no half measures.
Next step(assuming the big and little ends are OK) is to asses wear on the main bearings and seals , yours will more than likely have the far better brass gland bushes for seals (later 25Cs had conventional oil seals) , if either the bearings and seals show any signs of wear , again renew them.
Lastly check the cylinder for wear , more often than not a new set of rings will cure the problem.
I’m fully aware this may sound expensive , but trust me in the long run it is money well spent , it will put the machine back into service for many years to come , and will give effortless starting.
I have a 25c on an Auto Culto , that I gave the full works to , admittedly I had all the parts already on the shelf , but it is now a joy to go to it , and see and hear it start first pull every time.

Andy.